Automatic railway-switch



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(No Model.)

AUTOMATIC RAILWAY SWITCH.

No. 537,635. Patented Apr. 16, 1895.

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G. W. DE' GRASSE & G. M. MYRIGK. AUTOMATIC RAILWAY SWITCH.

' No. 537,635. l1=a.e111; mApr. 16, 1895.

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GEORGE W. DE GRASSE AND GEORGE M. MYRIOK, OF CRETE, ILLINOIS.

AUTOMATIC RAI LWAY`SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 537,635, dated April16, 1895.

` Application led September 13, 1894. Serial No. 522,947. (No model.)

n To LZ/ whom t may concern:

Be it known that we, GEORGE W. DE GRAssn and GEORGE M. MYRIOK, citizensof the United States of America, residing at Crete, in the county ofWill and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Automatic Railway-Switches, of which the following is aspecification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings,and the letters and figures ot reference thereon, forming a part of thisspecification, in which- Figure lis a plan view'of the switch mechanismconnected with the switch rails', omitting the switch stand frame. Fig.2 is a detail view showing a portion of the switch rod adjacent to theinner end of the coil spring sleeved thereon, and showing a side View ofa spring operated slide thereon, and showing said rod connected withother parts of the switch mechanism. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of theswitch stand mechanism disconnected from the switch rails. Fig. 4 is aplan view of the switch mechanism showing the parts reversed from thoseshown in Fig. 1,v and showing the switch rails closed. Fig. 5 is a sideView of a spring plate for being engaged 'by a cominglocomotive forautomatically closing the switch so the main track will be open to theapproaching train. Fig. 6 is a detail view showing a latch connected tothe under side of the top plate or table'of the Switch stand frame forcontrolling and locking the arm attached to the switch stand shaft. Fig.7 is a plan view of the switch stand and a portion of the inner end ofthe switch rod; and Fig. 8 is a perspective view ot the switch stand andthe parts connected therewith.

This invention relates to certain improvements in automatic railwayswitches, of the class wherein an approaching train from eitherdirection will automatically close the switch and pass on the maintrack, which improvements are fully set forth and explained in thefollowing specification and claims.

Referring to the drawings, B represents the .bed plate of the switchstand, bearing the frame A having the top plate 4.

R is a vertical shaft having its lower end stepped in said bed plate B,and journaled toward its upper end in said plate 4, and having securedto it the plate R and jointed so that said plate may turn in eitherdirec-v tion a short distance before it will engage one of the saidpins, for turning bell crank plate J in either direction with plate Rwhen it engages either one of said pins, so that plate R can turn withinthe space between said pins before it will turn with it bell crank J.

r is a Vspring latch pivotally connected at the outer end of one of itsarms to bell crank plate J near the outer end of one of its arms, and ispivotally connected with plate R by means of a link Z as shown in Figs.l, 4 and 8 said link beingprovided with a slot :in its end connectedwith 'said latch, so the latch may swing within the limits of said slot.A spring S set behind said latch is for the pur- Vpose of holding saidlatch outward so it will catch behind a stud o set in the bed plate B,when the switch isopen, and all the parts are in the position shown inFig. 1.

O is a switch rod having its inner end pivotally connected to the outerend of one ofthe arms of bell crank plate J, and pivotally connected atits outer end to the switch rail connecting bar O.

G is a slide sleeved on said switch rod at or near its center, and isconnected with one end of a lever H through the medium of alinkL asshown particularly in Figs. 2 and 8 the said lever H having pivotalconnection at n with the bed plate B.

E is a coil spring sleeved on the switch rod C between slide G and avertically arranged plate F secured to some suitable obj ect on theground, and its resiliency exerts a constant pressure against saidslide, and also against the outer end of a connecting rod D pivotallyconnected to the upper side of said switch' rod, and also is pivotallyconnected at its inner end to the outer end of one of the arms ot' thebell crank plate R. The outer end olf said connecting rod D is providedwith a slot 'i which receives the pin V set in the switch rod C forconnecting said rod D to said switch rod O, and the said connecting rodD can ICO move on said pin the distance said slot is long for thepurpose hereinafter named.

m is a lever pivotally connected a short distance above its lower end tothe side of the cross bar '7 of the switch stand frame. The lower end ofsaid lever is connected with one end of the lever H through the mediumofthe link W and the rod W', which rod passes through an eye in one endof said link, and is retained therein by means of the head e on the endof said rod, and in such manner that said rod may slide in the eye ofsaid link, such connection being necessary to permit lever` H to operatefreely when released from its hook, and so at such time it will not beretarded in its action by lever m.

2 is an arm secured to a short shaft forming the pivot of lever fm, theouter end of which arm is connected to a locklatch y attached to theunder side of the plate 4 of the switch stand by means of the rod 3.

K is a hook pivotally connected atits inner end to the top of the bedplate B in such manner that its hooked outer end will catch over the endof lever H, and a spring S2 placed behind said hook presses itconstantly toward said lever H so as to cause it to engage therewith.Said hook is connected with a crank 6 on the end of arock shaft l)2through the medium of a wire or chain P. Said rock shaft is designed tobe placed at right angles with the main track T, at quite a longdistance from the switch stand, and is provided on its end adjacenttothe said track with an arm 5,aloove which is placed an upwardly curvedspring plate P4 shown in Figs. l and 5, and in contact with said arm 5,so that when said plate isdepressed it will through the medium of saidarm rock said shaft and cause it to release latch K from contact withlever H through the medium of its connection therewith for the purposehereinafter set forth.

Vhen the switch is in its normal position so as to close the switch andleave the main track open, its parts are in the position shown in Figs.4 andl 8. l/Vhen it is desired to move the switch rails T so as to openthe switch as shown in Fig. 1, the upper end of the lever m is moved soas to cause the lever H connected to the lower end of lever m throughthe medium of link w and rod w to be turned to the position shown inFig. l, so the hook K will catch over its end and hold it in such p0-sition. Such movement of lever m will also move slide G connected to theopposite end of lever H against coil spring E so as to compress it andstore its strength ready for action whenever hook K is released fromlever H as hereinafter stated. Such movement of lever m also withdrawsthe latch y down through plate 4 so it will be free from contact withthe jointed arm H', so it can be turned. After lever 'm has been thusoperated, the switch rod is moved by means'of turning the arm H from theposition shown in Fig. 4 to that shown in Fig. l. Such movement of saidarm will turn the shaft R and with it the plate R and bell crank plate Jthrough the medium of pins 0c and x', and as switch rod c is attached tosaid bell crank plate J, said switch rod will be moved, and with it theswitch rails to which it attaches, to the position shown in Fig. l. Theconnecting rod D being connected to plateR will be moved so its outerend will be-in contact with slide G, and latch r will catch behind studO for the purpose of holding the parts in the position shown in Fig. l.

In case the switch should be accidentally left open as shown in Fig. l,and it is desired that an approaching train should move the switch so asto pass on the main track T, it is intended that the spring plate P4will be depressed by means of mechanism attached to the locomotive ofthe train, which can be operated by the engineer. The effect ofdepressing said spring plate will be to cause the hook K to be releasedfrom its contact with lever H, thus leaving the coil spring E free tomove slide G connected with said lever forward, and with it connectingrod D for the purpose of first turning shaft R and the plate R to theposition shown in Figs. 4 and 8 and release the latch fr from stud 0,and until the connecting rod D has moved far enough so pin n will be inthe opposite end of slot fi as shown in Figs. 4 and 8, when farthermovement of said coil spring will move the switch rod c and the switchrails and close the switch as shown in Figs. 4 and 8 so the main trackwill be open for the train to pass on, the oloject of so turning theshaft R being to turn the signal lantern on its upper end so as to showthe proper light along the track, and t-o turn the arm H back to itsfirst position.

Should the train approach the switch from the opposite direction fromthat shown in the lbroken lines in Fig. 1, the wheels of the train willmove the switch rails to close the switch, overcoming the latch o", andleaving the parts in the position shown in Figs. 4 and 8, so that if atrain approaches from either direction on the main track it willautomatically close the switch so the train will not take the switch andcause a disaster.

If it is desired to lock the switch closed and leave the main trackopen, a padlock y may be used to lock the latch y as vshown in Fig. 6when the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 4, so arm H cannot beturned by some unauthorized person and thus cause disaster.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

l. In an automatic railway switch the combination of the rail roadrails, connecting bar c', switch rod c, coil spring E and slide Gsleeved on said switch rod, shaft R', arm H' secured on said shaft,plate R secured on said shaft, slotted connecting rod D for connect--ing said plate and switch rod, bell crank plate .l having the pins @cand and journaled on said shaft, and pivotally connected to said switchrod r, pivotally connected to said bell crank plate J, slotted link zfor connecting said latch and plate R, stud o, lever H, link L forconnecting said lever H and slide G, hook K, link W, rod W', lever M,having the arm 2, latch y connected with said arm rock shaft P2 havingthe arms 5 and 6, spring plate P4 and chain or wire P all arranged tooperate substantially as and for the purpose set forth. i

2. In an automatic railway switch the combination of the railroadrails'connecting rod c', switch rod c, coil spring E and slide G Sleevedon said switch rod, bell crank plate J, shaft R, lever H, link L', hookK, and the means for operating said hook K and latch r GEORGE W. DEGRASSE. GEORGE M. MYRICK.

Witnesses:

THos. H. HUTcHINs, RAY HUTcHINs.

